Merceedes had one car at the top and one car at the bottom of the timing screens following the final practice session for the Italian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time of the weekend so far – a 1’25.519 – to lead the times ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. He wasn’t entirely happy with his car, reporting a DRS problem at one point and, not for the first time this year, was also dissatisfied with his brakes.
But team mate Nico Rosberg has a more serious problem. Twice at the beginning of the session he returned to the pits reporting his gears “weren’t being learnt”.
Rosberg wasn’t the only driver to suffer gearbox problems – Sergio Perez pulled up at the Curva Grande, complaining his car appeared to be stuck in neutral.
Valtteri Bottas, who briefly set an identical time to Alonso’s earlier in the session, ended up a tenth of a second behind the Ferrari, followed by team mate Felipe Massa.
Jenson Button set the fastest time through the first sector but ended up fifth-fastest, making it four Mercedes-powered cars in the top five.
Their rival engine manufacturers powered the next four cars at a track where top speed is crucial: Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull was followed by Kimi Raikkonen, Daniil Kvyat (who will take an engine change penalty) and Daniel Ricciardo.
Combined time
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’26.187 | 1’26.286 | 1’25.519 | -0.668 | 64 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’27.169 | 1’26.565 | 1’25.931 | -0.634 | 62 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’28.148 | 1’26.758 | 1’26.090 | -0.668 | 74 |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’28.150 | 1’26.935 | 1’26.114 | -0.821 | 71 |
| 5 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’26.995 | 1’26.225 | 70 | ||
| 6 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’26.810 | 1’26.762 | 1’26.242 | -0.52 | 82 |
| 7 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’27.271 | 1’26.762 | 1’26.290 | -0.472 | 71 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’27.493 | 1’26.331 | 1’26.327 | -0.004 | 73 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’27.741 | 1’27.476 | 1’26.437 | -1.039 | 79 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’28.487 | 1’26.992 | 1’26.482 | -0.51 | 65 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’28.112 | 1’27.227 | 1’26.608 | -0.619 | 79 |
| 12 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’27.228 | 1’26.881 | 1’26.829 | -0.052 | 94 |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’27.687 | 1’27.079 | 1’27.312 | +0.233 | 65 |
| 14 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’28.114 | 1’27.840 | 1’27.207 | -0.633 | 72 |
| 15 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’28.300 | 1’27.929 | 1’27.479 | -0.45 | 85 |
| 16 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’28.029 | 1’27.498 | -0.531 | 47 | |
| 17 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1’30.081 | 1’28.659 | 1’28.025 | -0.634 | 80 |
| 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’29.512 | 1’28.700 | 1’28.137 | -0.563 | 86 |
| 19 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1’29.178 | 1’28.265 | -0.913 | 53 | |
| 20 | Giedo van der Garde | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’28.429 | 19 | |||
| 21 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’29.085 | 1’28.459 | -0.626 | 43 | |
| 22 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1’30.017 | 1’28.786 | 1’28.579 | -0.207 | 73 |
| 23 | Daniel Juncadella | Force India-Mercedes | 1’29.192 | 10 | |||
| 24 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1’30.948 | 1’29.275 | 1’29.251 | -0.024 | 75 |
| 25 | Charles Pic | Lotus-Renault | 1’30.125 | 23 | |||
| 26 | Roberto Merhi | Caterham-Renault | 1’30.704 | 29 |
Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei
Formula Indonesia (@)
6th September 2014, 11:12
McLaren are serious threat for top 5
Or may a podium
Martyn (@martynj23)
6th September 2014, 11:22
Interesting to see that Button would appear to have the edge over Magnussen.
Formula Indonesia (@)
6th September 2014, 11:42
Yeah, an he usually quicker in race compare to Qualy, so i expect him to battle with Ferrari and Williams
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
6th September 2014, 11:51
to be honest, their race pace is not that promising compared to their nearest rivals. I don’t think they are in contention for the top5 unless there will be problems for the others
Koni (@mariosf1)
6th September 2014, 11:25
It is shaping to be a close qualyfing for the Mercedes-Powered cars.Although Rosberg lost qualy practice I would put him on the front row and Hamilton for pole because of his aggresive style..Nothing to choose betwen Massa-Bottas and I hope Massa to outqualify Bottas at last.Also great lap from Alonso!
Liam McShane (@)
6th September 2014, 11:31
Why is Ericsson still driving, he is miles of the pace.
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
6th September 2014, 11:35
Money talks.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
6th September 2014, 11:47
Give the guy a break…it’s not his fault that he’s big boned…..
coefficient (@coefficient)
6th September 2014, 11:43
Sometimes taking the downforce off separates the men from the boys.
William Olive
6th September 2014, 11:55
Max Verstappen is a boy I believe.
Formula Indonesia (@)
6th September 2014, 12:09
Interestingly, Rosberg also missed fp3 last year, and Merc failed on Qualy, but their car was the fastest on Sunday
Mashiat (@mashiat)
6th September 2014, 12:40
Erm… no. The Mercedes was nowhere near the fastest car on raceday. Rosberg was stuck behind Hulkenburg for 53 laps and Hamilton? Well, that was a race to for fet for him…
Leggacy (@leggacy)
6th September 2014, 16:18
What exactly is meant by – his gears “weren’t being learnt”.